Man charged with killing girlfriend's 2-year-old son

A Chicago man was charged with murder today after his girlfriend's 2-year-old son was fatally punched in the abdomen, Cook County prosecutors said.

Jesus Rico, 29, was babysitting Salvador Sanchez on Thursday while his mother was at work.

During the day, Salvador developed diarrhea. While changing the boy's diaper, Rico struck the boy in the abdomen because "the baby moved after being told not to," Assistant State's Attorney William Blumthal said.

When the child's mother returned home from work, Salvador was vomiting, Blumthal said. As the night went on, the vomit became a dark brown color. When the toddler's mother said he didn't look well, Rico told her not to worry about it, prosecutors said.

As she was getting ready for work Friday, Rico told her the boy was not breathing. An ambulance was called to the home in the 6000 block of West Melrose Street and Salvador was taken to the hospital, where he died.

An autopsy revealed multiple injuries to the head and blunt trauma to the abdomen. According to the medical examiner's office, Salvador died of a mesenteric tear in the abdominal wall that was consistent with being struck. The severity of the tear could only have happened within two days of the boy's death, the medical examiner's office said.

Judge Peggy Chiampas set Rico's bail at $500,000 on Sunday. In court, it was revealed that Rico had three prior domestic battery charges.

Rico, a father of four, has a history of child abuse allegations, according to the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. The agency had allegations of abuse against Rico in two other cases involving the children of girlfriends in 2002 and 2005, agency spokesman Kendall Marlowe said.

In 2002, one of Rico's children died, but there were no allegations that the death was caused by abuse, Marlowe said